A dictionary of Marshall McLuhan’s quotations

The Gutenbeg technique of mechanizing handicrafts by minute fragmentation of "time and motion" became the ground plan of the entire American "experiment in democracy." Exactly repeatable tasks enabled the least skilled workers to get jobs at once. The Gutenberg principle of mechanization by fragmentation and specialism was extended as much to the Constitution as the ballot box and the box office. This principle was introduced equally into education and into the market place.
Take Today with Barrington Nevitt, 1972, p 44
Year: 1972
Chapter: Democracy
Compiled by William Kuhns
© 2026, The Estate of Marshall McLuhan